Chapter 25
Ajori
Istood outside Kyrin’s door for a second, hand hovering, and heart still racing from everything that had just happened.
My first instinct was to go find Lainey—tell her, scream, cry, laugh… all of it—but something in me said no. Kyrin deserved to hear it first.
This was about him.
I knocked lightly, then pushed the door open.
Kyrin was stretched across the bed, controller in hand, completely locked into his game like the world outside that screen didn’t exist.
“Bruh, move!” he snapped at the TV. “Why would you—man, you trash!”
I blinked, watching him for a second.
“Kyrin,” I called softly.
“Hold on—hold on—hold on—” he mumbled, leaning forward as if his life depended on whatever was happening on that screen.
Two seconds later…
“Let’s go!” Kyrin shouted, throwing his head back. “Told you don’t play with me!”
I shook my head, a small smile breaking through. “Are you done being a professional gamer, or can I talk to you?”
He glanced over at me, grinning. “You see that, though, sis? That was clean.”
“Kyrin.”
“Aight, aight,” he said, pausing the game and tossing the controller to the side. “What’s up, sis?”
I stepped further into the room, closing the door behind me. And just like that, the smile on my face faded, because now it was real… now I had to say it.
His expression shifted as he sat up a little straighter, concern flickering in his eyes.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice quavering slightly.
“Nothing’s wrong,” I replied quickly, perhaps too quickly, feeling the weight of my words hang in the air.
He eyed me dubiously. “Jo…”
I exhaled slowly, the air feeling heavy in my lungs as I walked closer to the edge of the bed. My hands fidgeted with the hem of my shirt before I forced them to still. They needed to stay steady, now more than ever.
“I just… I need to talk to you about something serious,” I finally managed.
“Okay…” he replied, his tone cautious, as if he sensed the gravity of the moment.
I sat down on the edge of the bed, turning to face him.
For a second, I just looked at him, taking him in.
For so long, I had been looking at him and seeing a whirlwind of fear, the relentless ticking of a clock counting down the moments we had left, and everything I could potentially lose.
But right then, all I saw was my little brother, waiting and trusting.
“A doctor here found you a heart,” I said, my voice trembling with the weight of the news.
Silence enveloped us. It felt like the room itself paused, bracing for what was next.
Kyrin blinked erratically at me. “What?”
I pressed my lips together, struggling to keep my composure as I repeated, “They found a heart. A real match… a good one.”
He just stared at me, the game controller still resting in his lap, the screen blank and forgotten, as he processed my words.
“For real?” he asked, his voice dropping to a whisper, almost as if he were afraid to say it out loud.
I nodded, tears already building again. “For real.”
Kyrin’s gaze searched my face, his expression a mix of hope and disbelief, as though he were trying to decipher whether that was some kind of joke or a dream he didn’t want to wake from.
“When?” he finally asked, his voice barely above a whisper, filled with a cautious excitement.
“About three weeks,” I replied gently. “They have to run more tests, get you stronger, prep everything… but it’s happening, Kyrin. It’s really happening.”
That revelation was the turning point.
His face transformed slowly, not in an overwhelmed rush, but rather like a delicate flower beginning to bloom.
“I’m… I’m really getting a new heart?” he asked, disbelief still lingering in his voice.
And that question? That simple flicker of hope? It broke me completely. Tears began to slip down my cheeks like a long-held dam finally giving way.
“Yes,” I whispered. “You are.”
Kyrin released a small breath, almost as if he’d been holding it since the day he’d learned about his condition.
“Dang…” he murmured.
I let out a watery laugh, my tears mingling with the remnants of my happiness. “That’s all you’ve got? Just ‘Dang’?”
He shook his head, running a hand over his face. “I mean… I don’t know what to say,” he admitted, the weight of the situation dawning on him. “I thought—” but he stopped abruptly, shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t know. I just… didn’t think it would happen this fast.”
“Me either,” I said softly.
We sat there together for a heartbeat, wrapped in the shared silence, the unspoken possibilities unfurling between us.
Then he looked up at me again. “You okay?”
I blinked. “Am I okay? Boy, you’re the one getting a whole new heart.”
“Yeah, but you’re the one who’s always stressing. I be chilling.”
“If you say so.”
“I do!” he insisted. “I mean… I be tired, but you be doing the most for the both of us.”
I placed my hand on my hip. “Well forgive me for caring.” I chuckled.
Kyrin grinned a little, then his expression softened again. “Thank you, sis. For real.”
I nudged his shoulder. “You ain’t gotta thank me; that’s my job.”
“Nah,” he shook his head, “You been doing more than that.”
I looked away for a second, swallowing the emotion creeping back up.
“I told you I got you… always. Ain’t no clocking out over here.”
Kyrin leaned back against the headboard, exhaling slowly. “Three weeks…” he said, almost to himself.
“Yeah,” I nodded.
A small grin crept onto his face. “Bet!”
I raised a brow. “Bet?”
“Yeah. That means I got three weeks to beat all my games before they bench me for recovery.”
I stared at him, then burst out laughing. “You are so unserious.”
“I’m dead serious, sis,” he exclaimed, grabbing his controller again. “Recovery Kyrin about to be bored, so I gotta lock in now.”
I shook my head, smiling.
Only Kyrin could turn something like this into a gaming deadline. But honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.